Corneal Injury after Skin Filler Injection

Ahn, Sang Il; Chung, Jin Kwon

Original Article

Korean Journal of Optometry and Vision Science 2014;13(1):24-26.
Published online June 30, 2014.

Corneal Injury after Skin Filler Injection

Sang Il Ahn, Jin Kwon Chung

Department of Ophthalmology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea

Abstract

To describe a case of corneal injury caused by an ointment used for fading bruises. A 33-year-old female presented at the emergency
room with right ocular pain. A day before, she had applied BRUFADE ointment to her right lower lid to reduce bruising and
swelling after a soft tissue filler injection. Uncorrected visual acuity was 20/32 in the right eye. A slit-lamp examination of the right
eye showed a well-circumscribed 8 x 6 mm sized corneal epithelial defect. She was treated with therapeutic contact lens, topical
corticosteroid, antibiotics, lubricant eye drops, and oral doxycycline. After 1 week of treatment, the corneal epithelium had healed
completely and her visual acuity had improved to 20/20. Skin ointments containing alcohol that promote skin penetration can
cause corneal injury. Therefore, they should be used with extreme caution and meticulous care when applied around the eyes.
(Korean J Optom Vis Sci 2014;13(1):24-26)

Key Words: Alcohol, Corneal injury, Ointment